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The Question
(Submitted May 16, 1998)
I am curious to know why with the HST we can see the galaxies
in the deep space image that are billions of light years away,
but we can't study or even see the center of our own galaxy?
The Answer
It's not true that we can't study or even see the center of our galaxy.
This is a very active research topic for astronomers, particularly using
radio, infrared, X-ray and gamma-ray telescopes.
As for seeing the Galactic center: a search in the "Astronomy Picture of
the Day" site has turned up 3 nice pictures:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960605.html
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970121.html
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap971111.html
However, it is true that it's hard to see the Galactic center with visible
light. This is because of the dust in our own Galaxy, which can be seen
in the first of the 3 "APOD" pictures above as dark patches in the Milky
Way. Such dust clouds make stars behind them appear much fainter.
Hope this helps.
Best Wishes,
Koji Mukai
for Ask an Astrophysicist
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